The Chicago woman who has managed to bypass airport security and board dozens of ticketless flights allegedly escaped from a residential electronic surveillance facility before returning to the airport.
According to WGN, Marilyn Hartman was arrested at O’Hare Airport after fleeing court-ordered facilities.
Investigators were able to detain Hartman at the international airport thanks to his tracking device, according to the report.
The 69-year-old, who has cheated on the TSA at least 30 times in three decades, was unable to evade control this week and police picked her up at the unsafe section of the airport, the local station reported .
Hartman has been arrested for security breach several times at O’Hare, Midway and other airports across the country. It has even frustrated customs officials and jumped on planes in London, Copenhagen and Paris, according to an interview with CBS 2 in Chicago, which coincidentally aired only on Sunday.
Hartman told the station that he was not a criminal mind.
“What I have to tell you. I’ve never been able to get on a plane alone. They always let me through, ”Hartman said. “I mean I was able to get through the security line without a boarding pass.”
“I stayed with them, that’s so crazy, following someone they’d carry like a blue bag,” the Second City police officer told the CBS affiliate. “And the next thing I know, I walk into the TSA line and TSA lets me pass, and they think I’m with the guy with the blue bag.”
Security professionals told the station that his simple tactics are very alarming in a post-9/11 world.
“Being able to repeat it over and over again is amazing,” Air Safety expert CBS 2 told Price.
The genius of its mode of operation is in its simplicity, ”he said. “The unsophisticated types of plans are usually the most successful.”
Hartman, who fights bipolar disorder, says police continue to blame his mental illness on his long rap leaf, rather than the ineptitude of airport workers.
“I know they’re still emphasizing mental illness … law enforcement … they’d like to have that in place. But umm … [laugh] no, I’m pretty good, “she said.
According to WGN, they are pending charges of escaping crimes against Hartman.